Wisconsin 3, Minnesota, 0

Times have been tough for Minnesotans. The Green Bay Packers beat the Vikings twice last year and now in Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is seriously committed to bringing the state budget under control while our Governor Dayton has only proposed raising taxes and spending.

Governor Walker and the Wisconsin Legislature have shown great courage by breaking the stranglehold public employee unions have had on city, county and state budgets as a first step in bringing Wisconsin’s budget under control. Governor Dayton’s budget proposals have been employed for many years, both in Minnesota and at the national level. They have brought us to the financial crisis in which we now find ourselves.

The federal government has generated an unfathomable debt and is broke. Many states, including Minnesota, are in various stages of “brokenness.” The only way to fix that is to start spending significantly less than our income. We all have to live that way, but somehow we have not required our governments to do the same. As a result we have mortgaged our children’s and grandchildren’s futures, something our grandparents did not do to us. Are we less worthy parents and grandparents than ours were?

Mr, Greer asserts that public unions, Gov. Dayton, and poor fiscal planning are responsible for the various stages of “brokenness” that Federal and state governments find themselves in. Although his last reason is partly correct, some also say that the recession is the cause.
Whatever the cause, his cure for it, austerity, is only part of the answer. The greater need lies in the revenue that we no longer have: missing income taxes from the no-longer working, a more fair portion of revenue paid by the wealthy, revenue missing from devalued property that the homeless are now not paying, revenue missing from sales taxes from a public that cannot now afford to spend as much.
We also have revenue missing from multi-national corporations. Many of whom, while crying that taxes rates make them uncompetitive in the world economy, manage, due to tax credits and write offs, to pay nearly nothing in federal taxes .. … Don’t believe though that they’re not making their profits anyway.
Take GE for instance, last year GE reported a world-wide profit of $14.2 billion, $5.1 billion from U.S. operations. How much was their U.S. tax?… Nothing.

But still we have the T-Partiers, and the Gov. Walkers, breast-beating themselves about the greedy middle class union members and public workers who are responsible for our “brokenness”.
Where is their rage at the bailed-out bankers who still claim their vulgar bonus’, …the same bankers that caused the recession in the first place.?
Where is their rage at the Gov. Pawlentys who solved their state’s budget problems by simply not paying the bills; by letting the debt accrue for the Democrats to solve?
Where is their rage for corporate welfare that takes it and then screams about public welfare?

Unfortunately, the damage is done and the only way it can be remedied now is by paying our taxes. Cutting programs, and social benefits, and punishing the poor won’t do it; austerity is not enough. So the only thing that’s left is that we’re just going to have to “man-up” and pay more taxes; more taxes from everybody: wealthy, middle class, and business as well. Deluding ourselves that a gift from heaven, or breaking a public union, or some like occurrence will save us all from “brokenness” is, just that, delusional.